Event: Blood Harvest Part 3
Part 3 of Blood Harvest gets away from the main storyline characters to focus on some of the other major players in the story, especially the Imperials. As plans begin to unfold, the danger for our heroes begins to come to light. This part plays a little catch-up for a lot of the bad guys who haven't been part of the action so far. It also reveals a lot of what's been going on behind the scenes. Blood Harvest Part 3, Dark Tidings “If I may, Moff Strax, this information is important.” Captain Vanatos politely said. “By all means, my good Captain. Please… Inform us of your findings.” Strax smiled back at the young Imperial Captain. He was enjoying this brief more that Harkness was. The young Imperial Officer had immediately caught his eye when she arrived on Antrixies. Not only had the young female rose through the biased Imperial ranks, she was a beauty too. Ettigar had to wonder if she had become a mistress of a high ranking official in order to achieve her current rank. Only the two highest ranking Imperials were present in the private conference room that had once served as Lady Marissa Strykia's meeting room for Captain Vanatos' briefing. Grand Moff Ettigar Strax and Admiral Terrel Harkness. Both men of ambition and ego. Jysell Vanatos knew that Strax was currently jockeying for more favor with the Emperor. Admiral Harkness was also hoping to receive the promotion to a open Grand Admiral rank. A promotion of that nature would put the career Imperial Navy officer above Strax, whom he had a tenuous relationship with, at best. as for the room, Admiral Harkness had made sure to throw out every bit of furnishings that the High Lady's conference room had once held when he settled himself into the Occupational Commander position within the Commonwealth. There had been family heirlooms that had descended through the generations of Damodreds and Strykias in that room at one time. It was all gone now. Destroyed. In their place were the stark Imperial furnishings that lacked character, holding only functionality. It was efficient, but it was cold and sterile. “Admiral, Moff… Across the Inner Rim in recent months, our forces have encountered rogue forces that have mercilessly been preying upon our supply lines.” Jysell Vanatos said, directing everyone’s attention towards the display screen behind her. “While we can attribute some of these raids to the Rebels, there are other rogue elements at work here. In particular, a group of pirate forces has been persistently bothersome. The Blackstone pirates. While we've had numerous encounters before, they appear to now be preying on our forces only.” “The Blackstone Pirates? They were destroyed over seven years ago!” Admiral Harkness interjected. “These have to be imposters. Pirates, none the least, but still imposters.” “One would think that.” Strax jumped in. “Still, the intelligence reports were never able to confirm that Galen Taym was killed by our forces seven years ago. I know that we would like to think that Taym is dead, but it is possible that he survived and has been rebuilding his forces.” “Gentlemen: If our data is correct and the Blackstone group has resurrected, we could be facing a larger problem.” Jysell stated. “The support for House Strykia has just increased once again. House Taym could be a beginning. If they were to be forced into a position of forsaking the Occupation, they could rebel and spell disaster. House Stark and House Fayrunn could support their former liege’s house and bring Landris against the Empire. Landris has always been a moral compass for the Commonwealth. It might not be the center of the Commonwealth, but it is a symbol for the landsraad and it's people. Landris would be the first, followed by their closest supporters, including the Atraydes on Caladan and the Fenrings on Fendring. We could be watching the beginnings of full-blown rebellion erupt. The Ithic Corridor would become divided and we would lose a key operational resource.” “We’ve been combating a rebellion since I took control of the occupation, over twenty years ago.” Terrel Harkness stated in response. "The Resistance has always stayed away from full-blown conflict within the Commonwealth's borders. They value the safety of their citizens too much. Since the absence of Draygan Strykia, the Resistance has fallen apart and is more ineffective now than ever before. I've been winning against them." “No, you haven’t, Admiral.” Vanatos replied. “You dare to question me?” Admiral Harkness began to quickly rise from his chair. “Yes, Admiral, I do.” Vanatos didn’t even flinch. If anything, she began to encroach forward, towards the Admiral, ready for a confrontation. “I might be an intelligence officer in the Imperial Security Bureau, but I am also a commanding officer of Internal Affairs and Investigations. There are enough questions raised when it comes to the Commonwealth, Admiral, and your fulfillment of duties and assignments. I sincerely doubt you want more attention brought down on you!” “You sniveling wench.” Terrel didn’t take well to being threatened. “I was awarded the Curse! Do you really think an honor like that would go to someone the Emperor didn’t trust? An Executor-class Star Destroyer? Given to a failure?” “Yes, I do.” Jysell laced her voice with ice. “The Curse was assigned to the Maridis and Relkan Sectors because the ships you had didn’t seem to be enough to handle Admiral Edric Strykia and his remnant forces. You daughter is too busy with her own agendas to take care of her mandate and you have maintained a blind eye to all of it. This whole area is ready to blow up in your face. You are not doing your job and the Emperor is aware of it.” Admiral Harkness sat back down in his chair and remained silent. Moff Strax turned his head from side to side, watching both Terrel and Captain Vanatos. A bemused smirk was on his face. Moff Strax had to wonder who held the higher authority in the room. Jysell went back to her brief as if nothing had happened. “If Landris rebels against the occupation, the planet will give the Resistance a foothold within the Commonwealth that will allow them to begin striking our resources with impunity. They can fortify the world and it would take our entire occupational force within the Commonwealth to subdue the world. More than twenty years of tension and hostility will erupt in our faces.” The doors to the conference room suddenly opened, admitting the scarlet-cloaked figure of Lord Rhakyhl, flanked by Lady Danara and the High Lord, Graydon Strykia. Harkness and Strax turned to watch the newcomers enter, standing quickly to show respect to Rhakyhl. “If Lord Regent Atraydes is wise, which I know he is, Landris will remain in line for the time being.” Rhakyhl said in his strange, spectral, wavering voice. “Captain Vanatos is correct, but we still have time to salvage the situation.” It was almost as if Rhakyhl had been at the door, listening to the conversation that had been occurring in the conference room. Vanatos straightened to an almost attention-like stance. “Dontaine Strykia attacked the Antrixian rebels in the Manchi Sector not long ago.” Rhakyhl continued as he approached Vanatos. “He found that his forces were not matched evenly against the rebels there. It did show us that Admiral Strykia has divided his resistance forces, though. The rebels in the Commonwealth’s proximity are not as strong as they once were.” Harkness began to smile. “Perhaps we should use this opportunity to begin hunting down the Resistance again. We could crush them!” “In time, my dear Admiral.” Lord Strykia casually said, taking a seat across the table from Harkness and Strax. Danara positioned herself behind Graydon. “I think that the imposters operating out on the Rim will over-extend themselves soon enough and expose a weakness to us. When they do, then we will strike.” “If the Strykia twins have successfully combated Dontaine-” Rhakyhl brought his hand up, making a pinching gesture with his thumb and index finger towards Moff Strax, interrupting the Moff before he could say more. Using the Force, Rhakyhl was able to silence the man quickly. “Lord Strykia knows that the imposters have faced his estranged brother, Moff Strax.” Rhakyhl calmly stated as he maintained a steady chokehold on Ettigar through the Force. “It is a stressful topic that doesn’t need to be brought up now.” Moff Strax managed a quick, drunken nod in acknowledgement. As soon as he did that, Rhakyhl released his hold, leaving Ettigar gasping for breath. Danara felt Rhakyhl look in her direction. She did not respond though. Instead, she had shifted her focus to Graydon Strykia, sitting in front of her. She was watching for signs of his psychosis surfacing. The fact that this man in front of her didn’t know that he was a clone of the real Graydon Strykia didn’t bother her. What bothered her was the fact that any time the clone became upset, he went into a mental psychosis that caused him to lash out physically at anything or anyone. It was one of the reasons why Danara hadn't been sanctioned to train him. Talk about the “imposters” usually angered him. Thankfully, this clone didn’t have the Force training that the real Graydon Strykia did. Danara was also disturbed that the clone had become a cruel person that enjoyed inflicting pain on others. He had no empathy for anyone he considered below his station, which was almost everyone. The exceptions were the Force-users that were around him on a regular basis. He didn’t dare attempt anything with them since his first temper tantrum that had resulted in Danara pinning him to the ceiling with telekinesis. Since that time, the mere sight of a Lightsaber made him jumpy. Mention or use of the Force left him somewhat unstable. “The High Lord does have an announcement, though.” Rhakyhl said, almost sounding pleased. “I am imposing a curfew across the Commonwealth.” Lord Strykia looked very pleased with himself. “My Imperial friends and the Commonwealth Security will help enforce the curfew. Anyone breaking it will be considered sympathetic to the rebels. We will in turn, detain them for questioning.” Danara hated that part of the puppet clone’s figurehead power. The curfew had been Strax’s idea and had been detailed by Syanne Harkness. It would eventually spell for the subjugation of the Commonwealth if they didn’t enter into a full revolt by then. Part of Danara was torn by that. There were innocent people that would be harmed. Category:Events